Mayville ready for upcoming winter festival

February 14, 2014

Mayville will be hosting the annual Presidents Day Weekend Winter Festival tonight through Sunday. The festivities will commence with opening ceremonies at 6 p.m. in Lakeside Park.

According to Debby Marsala, Mayville/ Chautauqua Community Chamber of Commerce community coordinator, the "warmer" temperatures this weekend may encourage people to come out.

Article Photos

Photo by Daniel SwansonThe completed ice castle for the 2014 Winter Festival taking place in Lakeside Park, Mayville, with the Chautauqua Belle in the background.

"It will warm up to 20 degrees this weekend," she said, noting that early Wednesday, the temperature was nearly -20 degrees.

Mayville Mayor Martin Bova Jr. said that the official lighting of the ice castle will occur on Friday.

"Everything is ready for the festival," he said Wednesday night.

According to Bova, the Mayville Fire Department took water from the lake and sprayed a mist on the castle on Tuesday.

"It's going to be a spectacular year for the festival," Bova said. "The construction guys started with good, clear ice that just got better."

Reportedly, near the end of the construction project, workers were building with ice blocks 17 inches thick. Extremely cold temperatures have allowed the unusually thick ice to form.

Bova added that he believed snowmobile traffic and visitors will keep the village busy this weekend.

"This is a tourism-based village - the traffic is good for all local businesses."

According to Joe Town, general manager of Andriaccio's Restaurant, the restaurant is expecting large crowds this weekend.

"We have extra staff prepared and a special Valentine's Day menu for this weekend," he said.

The special menu is mainly traditional Italian dishes, and will include the "Italian Love Bowl," which includes spaghetti and meatballs for two.

"It's a dish that's Lady and the Tramp style," Town said.

The annual ice castle medallion treasure hunt that stretches throughout the county ended Wednesday, when Tom Cole of Mayville located the medallion. According to a press release, the medallion was hidden in Abraham Lincoln's hat at the Lincoln and Bedell statues in Westfield.

At The Docks, across from the Train Depot building, an open house will be held for Kent Knappenberger on Sunday from 2-4 p.m. Knappenberger, a former Mayville resident, received the first-ever Grammy Music Educator Award in January for his exceptional teaching at Westfield Academy and Central School.

For more information, call the Mayville chamber of commerce at 753-3113 or visit www.mayvillechau-tauqua.org for a complete schedule of events.